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On the C.L.: Crystal Renn on Her Skinny Photos: "I Don't Look Like That"

Welcome to installment, oh, #752 or so of our ongoing discussion about body image. But I’m not doing the talking this time: Model Crystal Renn, who’s in the middle of a mini-controversy about her own body, is. Hear her out after the jump.

Readers of Glamour know Crystal and her story well: her years of anorexia, her return to good health—and her fame and success as a “plus-size” model. We love Crystal and put her on the cover two months ago. So when I saw headlines cropping up last week criticizing her for losing weight (“A Big Fat Lie?” read one, in the New York Post), I felt for her. But frankly, when I saw the pictures they referred to, I was also worried. She’d already been slimmer when we photographed her for the cover than she had been four months earlier (read about that here), but last week, in those photos, she looked slimmer still. Women were concerned. “I just genuinely wonder if she is becoming ill again,” posted one commenter on jezebel.com. “Eating disorders are hard to get over.”

In the heat of all this, Crystal stopped by the office to talk. First (and best) things first: She’s NOT as skinny as she looks in those pictures; she looks like a healthy, average-size young woman. But she was upset. So what’s the deal?

GLAMOUR: Let’s talk about the pictures that ran of you last week. You look thinner than we’re used to seeing. But you say that when you saw those photos yourself, you gasped. Why?

CRYSTAL RENN: Well, I was shocked. When I saw the pictures, I think I was silent for a good five minutes, staring with my mouth open. I don’t know what was done to those photos or who did it, but they look retouched to me. And listen, everybody retouches, but don’t make me into something I’m not. [Reached for comment, photographer Nicholas Routzen explained that Crystal looks the way she does because the photos were “ taken from a higher angle with a wider lens.” But he also added, “I shaped her I did nothing that I wouldn’t do to anyone. I’m paid to make women look beautiful.”]

GLAMOUR: Here are the pictures as they ran on nymag.com and all over the web:

Photos for the Fashion for Passion campaign, shot by founder and photographer Nicholas Routzen.

But your agent sent us video of you behind the scenes. These are shots in the same outfit:

CRYSTAL RENN: That's what I look like. Yeah! And I just did a three-page shoot with V magazine that I love.

I look like me; I look strong. But in the new pictures...well, that body doesn’t look like my body. It doesn’t. Having had an eating disorder, I know what that very thin body looks like on me, and it's not something I find attractive. It's not something I aspire to.

I feel completely confident in my own health because I know I don't look like that, but even to see it in an image was really disturbing to me.

GLAMOUR: Talk about your body now, and where you are physically. CRYSTAL RENN: I'm the healthiest I've ever been. You know, I just started introducing exercise back in my life—it took me seven years to be ready to go back to the gym because I exercised in such an extreme way during my eating disorder. I’m hiking and doing yoga, and it's very light, but I feel fantastic. I’m sure some people might say, “Why are you exercising? Go eat a cheeseburger!” but I couldn’t be more proud of myself.

But even so, I’m a size 10. I’m 5’9”, so it might look different on me than if I were 5’2”, but everyone’s a different size 10. And I’m about 50-55 pounds heavier than my lowest weight as a straight-size model. Back then, you could see ribs everywhere. My legs, not only did they not touch, I mean there was nothing to grab. It was just skin and bone. And that goes for my arms as well. Thank God I don’t look anything like that now.

GLAMOUR: You told me that your worry was that girls would look at those thin-looking pictures of you and think that you were glamorizing extreme skinniness.

CRYSTAL RENN: Yes. That was a huge fear for me. I thought, "People are going to think that I'm sick—and maybe a girl who’s suffering from an eating disorder sees a picture like this and gives up hope.” People who have followed my story and heard my voice might think I’ve turned my back on that, and that it’s only beautiful to be thin. They’re not going to know where I stand right now, and I understand that. Because if I were in their shoes looking at this picture, I would be disturbed. I would absolutely be disturbed.

GLAMOUR: What would your message be, then, to that girl looking at this picture?

CRYSTAL RENN: I would tell her: I don’t look like that. I absolutely do believe in beauty at every size. And I’d tell her you can’t look at every image you see in this industry and say, "That's exactly how that person looks," because they don’t necessarily look like that. I mean, there is extreme retouching. There is amazing, very expensive clothing that is cut just right to flatter the body. People have trainers and go to great lengths for their bodies. And for that girl who’s thinking she has to be so thin to be accepted? You don’t. It’s not true. I starved myself to be successful, when in fact my real success only came when I became more confident.

GLAMOUR: That’s interesting because the speculation in some of the reporting last week was that now that you're landing these huge jobs, and walking in the Chanel cruise show, the world of fashion is pushing you to be skinny. To quote one story, "Come on, modeling industry—what are you doing to Crystal Renn?" So: Is there pressure for you now to lose weight?

CRYSTAL RENN: Absolutely not. That made me so angry! In fact, I recently [saw] Karl Lagerfeld, and he said, “Did you lose weight since my show? Don’t you lose any weight!” And I remember thinking, “I’ve actually gained an inch; must be the outfit! But no, don’t worry, I won’t.” And Carine [Roitfeld, the editor of French Vogue] also said to me, “Don’t lose weight. You’re very beautiful just how you are.” That support means so much to me.

GLAMOUR: How can other girls get that kind of acceptance? Because not to sound cynical, but many models do still say there’s a lot of pressure to be thin.

CRYSTAL RENN: Oh, no, I absolutely agree with you. But there’s much more freedom for plus-size models. I do get comments now about being too thin—and those hurt—but they’re less frequent than the body critiques when I was a straight-size model.

The other reason I get treated with respect now, though, is my confidence. You know, I'm a healthy, well-rounded girl--something that I wasn't when I was 16 years old. I don't let people walk all over me like before. People are way more accepting of me now that I accept myself. And that's not only true for work, but that's true in everyday life.

GLAMOUR: Do you think it’s fair for your weight to be monitored like this? Some women online last week were sticking up for you; one commenter wrote that you should be allowed to be neither plus-size nor straight-size but “Crystal-size,” whatever that happens to be. She wrote: “If this is her body without the influence of agents and bookers, then more power to her and mazel tov.”

CRYSTAL RENN: That is how it is! And how it’s been for seven years, ever since I chose to live instead of to die for my job. I’m not trying to change it now.

GLAMOUR: So mazel tov!

CRYSTAL RENN: [Laughs.] Thanks. There have been some comments that really hurt, though. The most disturbing one I’ve read came from a woman [who felt I was too thin], and she wrote: "I'm going to go look for a reliable plus-size model to look up to." I actually cried in my living room reading that because I’ve been telling my story for seven years—and to me, that’s reliable.

You know, I can't promise that I'm going to be the same size for the rest of my life. I actually don't even know where my body will take me in the future—but should I be quiet about the issues I care about based on my weight?

My message is that we should allow everyone, including models, to be the way they are: size 2, size 12, size 24. It shouldn’t be, “Oh, my God, she gained 5 pounds. Oh, she lost 5 pounds.” The big picture is let's bring all body types in.

GLAMOUR: What would that look like in fashion?

CRYSTAL RENN: Right now, you might see a runway show with all these girls who are size 2s, and then one who’s a size 16—that means you really notice size. Well, imagine you see a runway show where you see all different types: petite, tall, black, white, Asian, everybody's in there. You're just going to see beautiful women. There’d be no more weight debate. It’s done. That’s my vision for this industry. I guess you could say it's quite grandiose, but I don't care. I have to believe that what I say matters.

Wow. I’m floored by Crystal’s eloquence—and relieved about her health. What do you guys think about these issues? Tell me (I know you will!).